It's almost like Penn State’s football coaches are slouched down in a few third-row seats in an empty theater, chins in hands, being unmoved by a series of tepid script readings.

Penn State is in the process of holding closed auditions for a quarterback. (Not to mention another couple of offensive linemen to protect him.) It’s early. Preseason workouts only began last week. But so far? Not going particularly well.

We can’t see the performances. But it’s not hard to read the faces and hear the tones of the judges. And surreptitiously canvass the stage crew.

You’ve heard casting directors say when a certain actor showed up, they just knew they’d found the one?

Well, they ain’t found the one yet. And no new candidates are walking through the gate of Beaver Stadium this fall. This is it.

Based on a few team sources we’ve queried, it’s still very much a horse race. Maybe one for claimers, but a race.

The handicapping goes thusly so far:

The leader by a nose is still semi-incumbent sophomore Kevin Newsome. But gaining on the outside as we enter the back stretch is none other than long-shot redshirt soph Matt McGloin.

Newsome is working hard to master the PSU offense and straining to do so. He’s bigger and stronger and faster than the competition, a former Virginia state high school 110 hurdles champion. He’s earnest when interviewed and sometimes eloquent when asked unfair questions.

I asked one on Thursday at Penn State football media day: “It won’t be one quality that wins this job. But if you had to pick one that might tip the balance, what do you think it might be?” (I know, I could write questions for beauty pageants.)

Newsome gave a better answer than the question deserved: “One quality?” He thought for a moment. “Confidence. One quality, one attitude you have to have in a quarterback would be confidence.

“All the quarterbacks who are playing right now have great arms. They’re all mobile. We can all play football. So, the guy who makes the least amount of mistakes, the most confident player, the player who the team believes in, that’ll most likely be the starting quarter for Penn State.”

So, does he think about projecting confidence?

“Nah, you don’t want it to be fake and seem like you’re cocky. You want it to just come out naturally. You want to complete a pass and have the natural confidence that comes. Then, everybody sees what you feel.”

So, he sounds pretty good.

A few moments before, McGloin was addressing pretty much the same issue: “You put me in a situation, I know I’m going to do it. I think the way I am on the field, I show [confidence] and they’re calm because of it. In the huddle, I speak in a very confident manner. I look directly in their eyes.

“I’ve read a lot of books about that. Quarterbacks need to be confident. And I think the way I am rubs off on them and they feel calm.”

So, any one thing he thinks might sway the judges?

“That’s really tough for me to say right now. The coaches are all looking for different types of things. But I think it’s going to be whoever makes the most of their reps, whoever gets the job done and doesn’t make a lot of mental mistakes, whoever’s going to be able to lead the team.”

Not available for interview, lucky guys, were freshmen Paul Jones, he of the pretty good Blue-White performance, and Robert Bolden, who just arrived on campus in May after his graduation in suburban Detroit.

Bolden will need an opportunity midseason to crack this job. But one source with a very valid opinion who wished not to be attributed said this: “The kid has incredible leadership skills.”

Wow, that sounds usable this season. He’s really in the race? “Yes, he is.”

And Jones? At this early juncture, he looks like he may be odd man out.

Only so many reps exist right now, and the team is going through as many situational drills as possible to get all four candidates work. The staff is trying to keep the reps balanced. But Newsome and McGloin have gotten a smidge more.

Of course, only one judge really matters. And in a handful of days, Joe Paterno must decide who will start getting the heavier reps and who will work with the reserve and scout teams.

He said he had never used his full allocation of NCAA-allowed preseason practice days — until this August.

Any template to use in these situations? Does a mobile guy (Newsome) get more credit because the O-line looks sketchy? Is a natural leader with so-so skills more valuable than normal because of the inordinate trials that surely lay ahead in Tuscaloosa and Iowa City and Columbus?

“It’s a combination of things,” said Paterno. “A couple guys might not be as good of football players as a couple guys who are not playing who are good leaders.

“We’re right in the process right now where we’re trying to learn from them, really.”

Could a freshman start for Paterno at quarterback for the first time since 2001 (Zack Mills)?

“There’s really nobody with any experience out there. So, when you say, ‘Are you going to play a freshman?,’ we may be forced into playing one. Really, even the Newsome kid’s a freshman. He started in January a year ago.

“I really don’t know who’s going to be the quarterback. We’re trying to put them in situations where they have to make something happen, do some things in the clutch, get some confidence, get the football team to have some confidence.”

A summation was not called for. But Paterno offered one, anyway:

“I think before it’s over we’ll probably have a pretty decent quarterback. Whether we’re going to have a great one this year? That’s maybe a long shot.”

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